Today on CNNHealth, we take a look at the anxieties and doubts some U.S. parents have about the frequency and quality of vaccines administered to children. The reluctance to vaccinate has been theorized to be one of the reasons behind a whooping cough outbreak in California, which claimed its 10th child victim today.

A Centers for Disease Control and Preventions committee on immunization practices is expected to meet next week. This committee makes recommendations for the routine vaccines for children and adults.

Some parents who've moved to this country from abroad say it feels as if the United States requires significantly more immunizations compared with other countries. Judging by the list below of scheduled immunizations, that's true for some countries, but not all. Here's a look at vaccine schedules around the world, based on information from the World Health Organization. To look up other countries, check out WHO's webpage.

soundoff(65 Responses)

It isn't required and neither is the Pneumococcal. I actually had one NP tell me that I was a bad parent for not getting my then 11 yo daughter HPV. It has not been proven to work, so Y should I get it?

> It (HPV) has not been proven to work
Yes it has. In order for a drug to have FDA approval, it must be proven to work better than a placebo. You must be thinking of supplements, who's manufacturers don't have to prove anything.
Spend five minutes on the FDA website or Medline if you want to find the studies.

HPV vaccine is recommended but not required. I refuse to give it 2 my 11 yr old till they answer some questions... Mainly why is this vaccine linked to girls passing out for several minutes after getting this vaccine. My children have gotten all their other vaccines and they have never PASSED OUT from getting it. The other question that needs to be answered is why there is such a high number of girls that have gotten genital warts after getting the vaccine. My husbands has a PhD in bio-chemistry and works on cures for diseases and vaccines and he is very worried about the data he has seen on this particular vaccine. My own research has shown that in the states where governors have made the HPV vaccine required they have found that the drug companies (like Merck) that produce the vaccines have given them large contributions. The HPV vaccine would be the ONLY required vaccine for children for a sexually transmitted disease.

When I have children I am going to have them vccainated. You make the doctors who want children vccainated sound evil and corrupt when many do want what is best for our children. Their jobs are to keep people healthy and the majority of the medical society work and study like mad to keep people healthy. I feel like you are missing a lot of important information in your argument and the few sources you do mention are old and listing statistics very rarely provides truth. Many people weigh the benefits and concerns of vaccinations very seriously and still the majority of people learn it is better to give their children vaccinations. You say vaccinations actually make children's immune systems weaker, but if you have ever taken basic biology in school you would know that is not the case. Yes, it may make children a little sick after they get the shot but that is because a vaccination is giving a shot of a weakened or dead bacteria or virus so our body can develop antibodies. A vaccine does not mean you are never going to contract an illness for what you were given shot, but it allows our bodies to develop antibodies so when we do get that certain illness, our bodies will be able to fight it off. Many people who contract measles, whooping cough, etc when they have been vccainated often do not get near as sick as those who have not been vccainated and tend to get over the illness a lot faster. If you want to make a better argument you have to look at boths sides and know the facts for both sides.

We vaccinate all but the flu viruses, my oldest being 7 we do not yet have to deal with HPV. But, My girls can CHOOSE whether or not to get the HPV vaccine when they are in highschool. I will not force them to get a vaccine aimed at STD's, especially since the safety in the long-term is not yet known. I will teach them about safe sex and make sure they have recources availiable to them. They will know about planned parenthood and know that if they are uncomfortable comming to me about these issues then they can go to an aunt, cousin or any other adult or anyone that can give them a ride to planned parenthood if they need it.

My mother had this philosiphy with me, and told me to wait until I was ready for sex and I could use any of the above resources for contraception but to make sure I was protected! I was nearly 18 before becomming active and have only had 2 partners (i've been married to my second partner for nearly 8 years and we have 4 beautiful daughters).

I will raise my girls to have a head on their sholders and that they are in control of thier own bodies. Just being given that control empowers you to truly choose when you are ready and to make the best decisions.

I am so happy to hear that someone is talking to their kids about being ready for sex and all about it than just teaching abstinence. I had the mom who never taught me anything so I was pretty in the dark about it all until take human sexuality in college. I have a 7 year old son and have never sugar coated anything regarding his body nor his questions about sex. My husband and I also have 2 year old twin girls so I am hoping to follow in your mom's footsteps and be open about talking about sex. Thank you for such a good outlook on such a topic!

By the way–my kids are up to date on their vaccinations. We do get yearly flu shots because I am a high school teacher and I'm exposed to EVERYTHING. My son has had pneumonia twice due to respiratory illnesses and the girls were preemies. I live in Central California so I just had my pertussis booster since there has been an outbreak of whooping cough in my area. I'd rather not be the carrier of such an illness! I'd feel really, really bad if I passed something like that to someone with a compromised immune system!

The HPV vaccine protects against Human Papillomavirus, Currently it is given to females before they become sexually active. This means it must be given before puberty. It helps reduce the chances of getting cervical cancer. Since this virus causes genital warts in both males and females, I believe that in the future it will also be given to males.

According to the CDC "Genital warts are very contagious. You can get them during oral, vaginal, or anal sex with an infected partner. You can also get them by skin-to-skin contact during vaginal, anal, or (rarely) oral sex with someone who is infected. About two-thirds of people who have sexual contact with a partner with genital warts will develop warts, usually within 3 months of contact." http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/genitalwarts/understanding/pages/transmission.aspx

No parent would want to have their child get cancer if it could be avoided. Children age 10 to 11 are too young to consider their risk. It is the parents duty to decide it for them. I would not like for my granddaughters/grandsons to get cancer if it can be avoided by a vaccine.

HPV vaccine is not protecting against STD, but against cervical cancer. The vaccine is against a virus that initiates tumorigenesis. It's so disappointing to read these replies as it reflects the very low level of scientific knowledge the general population seems to have and the failure of doctors to properly communicate medical facts with their patients.

Your boys need HPV vaccine too since HPV can also cause throat cancer. There has been an increase in throat cancers in nonsmoking males in recent years and it is being attributed to the increased willingness of men to perform oral sex. The HPV vaccine should provide protection in these cases, but must be administered before exposure to HPV.

Really? Really?! The myth about vaccines causing autism has been disproved from every angle. The only study ever done that ever claimed a link and been discredited and the lead author brought up on charges. There is not a single shred of scientific evidence that links vaccines to autism. How can people possibly still believe this?!

However Autism rates are highest in countries that have more vaccines. I have 2 kids and both have turned out healthy, however both of my kids developed a head shutter and when we slowed down the rate at which they gave our kids the vaccines that actually disappeared. The doctor told me that was coincidental I but disagree. My kids get all there vaccines I just spaced them out so that they got them at a slower rate.

You can choose not to vaccinate your children, but then they are a public health threat. By not vaccinating, you are putting them at risk of dying of a preventable disease. Life before vaccinations was not better, and not vaccinating your children is irresponsible.

Not to mention potentially passing that illness to other children who didn't get full immunization or were unable to be vaccinated due to other medical conditions. It's not just your own child that you're endangering by foregoing vaccinations.

stand4liberty, you are absolutely correct. our children were damaged by their 6 month vaccines and we have not vaccinated since and our children are fine. Most of the children that become sick are those that are vaccinated. for example, the recent outbreak of mumps in NYcame from people that were vacinated for the disease, it was not a "wild" breakout.

v and xilo, if vaccines work so well, then shouldn't i be the one worried about my kids? why would you worry about your kids if the vaccines work so well?

they are a fear based, money grab for big pharma and the government.

take a look at this from the cdc about what is in vaccines that are given...
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf

the fluvarix vaccine (flu) still contains thimerosol which the government said was "out of vaccines"

"Includes vaccine ingredients (e.g., adjuvants and preservatives) as well as substances used during the manufacturing process,
including vaccine-production media, that are removed from the final product and present only in trace quantities.
In addition to the substances listed, most vaccines contain Sodium Chloride (table salt)."

Here is a great video made by Taylor Mali discussing the importance of Health Education in our children these days. Please take a look! The link takes you directly to youtube, and the video was sponsored by HealthTeacher.

I often speculate kids get vaccines and so many of them so young because health insurance will cover it and we know when it comes to me as an adult who needs Hep B and Hep A and I haven't had a tetnus shot in ages, I'm not forking out an extra $500 for vaccines this year; I'm not going to the doctor at all because I haven't met may cost share deductible. I'll just be careful and if I do get Hep A/B/tetnus then I'm 100% covered.

Just for the record my children are vaccinated with all but the flu and rotavirus vaccines. If it was not a fight I would have not have my kids get the chicken pox vaccine either.......that said, I just wonder what the autism rate for all those countries is. Is it proportionate to the amount of shots? Are the ingredients in the vaccines the same as the ones we in the US give our children? If it's not then that right there would tell you whether shots have any play in autism don't ya think? I have my own personal beliefs on what causes Autism but I would think this would be a real easy and common sense way to see if vaccines and autism are in anyway related. God forbid anyone ever use common sense in this country cause everyone knows everything.

These studies have been done but get absolutely no press... before the Second World War and compulsory vaccination in Japan autism was unknown; now it is on part with the US. Was vaccination the cause? Probably not. Was it a contributing factor; almost certainly. I am so sorry for the parents of that little boy who developed Hib infection; but why is there never any coverage of the tens of thousands of children hurt by vaccines each year. I am a physist, my wife a psychologist; we are responsible parents and we do not vaccinate our kids. Read the package inserts on vaccines, they are available on line. Multiply the chance of a serious adverse reaction (like seizures and lifelong immune system compromise) by the number of children vaccinated. Why do you think Congress indemnified the pharmaceutical industry for claims related to vaccine injury? The US tax payer forked out over $2 billion in injury claims; and the process to get an award for vaccine injury is totally stacked against parents. During times of public health emergencies vaccination has a role to play. But hygiene, good nutrient and common sense are more significant factors in limiting the spread of disease. Polio is a case in point. The polio vaccine no doubt played a role in limiting the spread of infection. But so did prohibiting the discharge of raw sewage into beaches where people swim (polio is spread by ingesting the fecal material of a contaminated person). The fact is that vaccination is a multi-billion dollar subsidy to the pharmaceutical industry and health care providers; which explains why articles abound on “irresponsible” parents. Balanced reporting would really advance the debate.

I'm brazilian and I keep my son vaccines updated. I truly believe is a love and healthy gesture and it is really sad to hear that pseudo facts lead parents to deny such protection to their kids.I myself was vaccinated when a child and never got any child desease.

I remember when polio was rampant. Every summer it would hit. I know several people who have been partially crippled by polio. Have you ever seen an iron lung? It was machine that was used to keep polio victims alive who could not breathe. It looked like a huge round cylinder in which a person was inserted. Imagine having a disease and suffocating because your chest muscles no longer worked. The polio vaccine ended this scourge in most of the world. Maybe in a few years it will be wiped out from the world forever. I dearly hope so.

I understand the fear that some feel about having so many vaccines but they are very wrong to forgo these wonderful inventions of science. The reason that there are so many vaccines now a day is because so many diseases can be prevented wholly or partially by vaccines. Go back a hundred years and see how many children never made it to adulthood because of the childhood disease that we never see anymore. These vaccines are the very best of modern science. Preventing a disease is much better than treating it.

Maybe our "outbreak" of autism stems from the total crap, processed, non-food that we cram in our maws until we marble up like stockyard cattle. If mercury is the concern, maybe it's getting into your prince or princess through their high fructose corn syrup – OOPS!, I meant corn sugar...it's a by-product of manufacturing that drek. Maybe it's the unfettered dumping and chemical runoff from manufacturing in our soil, air, and water. Maybe it's the 17 different pharmaceutical agents you take in order to "make it through the day", or if you are clean the ones your neighbor takes and passes in her urine and dung that don't totally get filtered out of your tap water (or that of the beverage bottler who fills a plastic bottle with tap water and sells it to you for an outrageous sum. Maybe it's the estrogen-analogs that leak into your food from nuking your lunch in plastic containers.

Vaccines are safe – I'll take my vaccines and leave that other junk to the rest of America, thank you.

My money is on our "food," as well. We (Americans) really don't eat food anymore – we eat food products. The box of cheese crackers sitting on my desk has 26 ingredients in it. Granted, someone else bought them for me, but I'm sure my preferred brand isn't any better. I'm not perfect – I have my vices like anyone does, but at least I'm aware of what I'm eating. In high school, my physics teacher said that he didn't eat anything he couldn't pronounce. We all laughed at him, but now I see the wisdom in those words.

100 years ago, our food didn't have artificial colors, flavors, and ingredients. It was food – not chemicals. Because of the enormous subsidies we pay to corn farmers (and other farmers, but I'm picking on corn here), corn can be bought below the cost of production and is broken down and reassembled into countless food ingredients, including sweeteners (HFCS, anyone?), flavor enhancers, stabilizers, and so forth. We want our food cheap, nice looking, tasty (when I changed to a mostly organic diet, it took a while to adjust to the "blandness" of natural food because I was so used to the flavor-enhanced "normal" food), and with a long shelf-life. And we're paying for it in our health.

I could go on and on here, but if you've never watched Food Inc., I highly suggest it. I think that so many of the physical and mental illnesses we suffer from today are a result of (or are exacerbated by) our diets. Not all of them, obviously, and I'm not saying that eating healthily is a cure-all. The pharmaceutical industry has its place, and thank God they're there. But I think our diets are really overlooked, and we need to pay them more mind.

As someone who recently turned 60 on Oct, 1, I'm finding that a number of vaccinations, in addition to the annual flu shot, are being recommended for me like bacterial pneumonia and shingles. I think that's great – it's one more thing my parents and grandparents generation had to worry about that I don't. Too bad more parents prefer to listen to anecdotal "evidence" that doesn't stand up to the trials of science and risk their kids health by avoiding shots. I know that if I eat 2 cans of tuna fish I ingest more mercury, in a form harder to remove from the body, than from the flu vaccine: almost every other vaccine is mercury free now.

Love all these parents that will teach their girls about safe-sex, and leave the Gardasil/Vervarix decision to them, but have any of them even considered that not all sex is consensual...that partners lie? Rape and cheating [marriage] partners have always been in existance. Give your daughters their vaccinations, because all your good intentions can be wiped out in a moment by a third party.

Most people get infected with one strain or another of HPV at various times in their lives. Fortunately, most people can clear the infection with no particular difficulty. Cancer develops when someone is unable to clear the infection and when the pre-cancerous situation is not discovered by pap smears. So yes, terrible things can happen and exposure to HPV is pretty much a certainty for everyone. This doesn't mean that vaccinating millions of people is the best solution, especially in countries where we already have a cost-effective screening program.

citizen, you are right. however, the stats will never be published as it would take money away from the pharma companies. 77% of the people that were involved in the mumps outbreak in NY/NJ this year had been vaccinated.

Wow! I looked at that list and its absolutely scary! If I'm couonting correctly that could amount to 34 injections! That is insane! I've have DTP as a baby and have had adult whooping cough. Had the polio vaccine and it damned near killed me! Seems I'm allergic to any vaccine grown in eggs. I noticed Small pox is no longer on the list (or did I miss it?) I guess, according to some of the responses, I should be dead from some of these diseases. Or at least listed as a "Typhoid Mary". Parents need to do their homework and decide for themselves and not listen to panicky people.

Why can't people just accept that if you don't die from one thing you will eventually die from something period. Without medicine what would we do? Medicine allows us to be that much more selfish. We rely on medicine. Listen, if people weren't so selfish and needy then we wouldn't be spending SO much money on unnecessary things. People could afford to miss work long enough to heal properly, or be with sick children until they heal properly instead of pushing medicine down their throats and sending them on to school too soon and infecting other kids who didn't have to get sick. Society is the problem. Women can't just be Mothers and wives anymore. We have to rush rush rush, and it wrecks havoc on the body over time. Of course, my own mother in law cant rest enough to keep her foot healed, so she has to keep getting surgery on it. Why? Two very selfish grand daughters age 21 who can't find a decent man to depend on, so they stress her out for shelter, food, and rides everywhere. Men, get JOBS. Women, take care of your kids!!!!

Yes, men, get JOBS. There are jobs out there, but the youth think that if it's hard, or dirty, or doesn't pay a lot then it's not worth it. They'd rather steal, pop pills, and sponge off of girls who still live at home themselves. It makes me so sick. It's the reason I married someone older than me. Older men are typically more responsible and actually hunt for jobs. He'll be wiping old peoples butts for a while, but it's WORK.

Please do not have your child take the HPV vaccine. To many young women have died after the shot. My daughters own Dr said not to take it not enough research on what happen to them later on in life also. Please research

Can I just point out that the country listed with the fewest required vaccines, Afghanistan, has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world? Per 1000 live births their infant mortality rate is 151.95 compared to the US which is 6.26.

Just a note to all you corncerned about mercury causing autism – 1. There is no mercury in the vast majority of shots kids get. 2. Autism existed before vaccines. 3. Many unvaccinated kids have autism. 4. There is not a single credible scientific study which showed a link between autism and vaccines.
But, take a look at all the foods you are feeding your children with high fructose corn syrup. How many of you know that that stuff is made with Mercury?? A recent study found that 30 percent of foods containing high fructose corn syrup which were tested had high levels of mercury. So all you parents feeding your kids junk food and filling their little bodies with toxic substances. Amazingly however, they aren't all coming down with autism...

kathleen, i agree with your sentiment about the food that we as americans eat. it is gross and if you can't read half of what is in it, you shouldn't eat it. our family has our own garden and grow our our produce. we feed our kids a gluten free/casien free diet and try to eat as natrual as possible, thus we haven't been to the doctor in sometime except for yearly checkups. our kids see their DAN! dr regularly as they are recovering from autism.

i disagree with your statement about mercury and autism. There are still trace amounts of mercury in many vaccines that are given to children. now you may say "it's only trace amounts" but it's like eating a case of fat free cookies. not really that good for you, and not really fat free.

also there are two forms of autism. medically induced autism (vaccines) and the form that is found in unvaccinated societies such as the amish; however the rate of their autism is 1 in 10,000 as compared to 1 in 110 in the vaccinating public.

If vaccines do not cause damage then why did the us supreme court award 1.5 million to the family of hannah poling this year? why was the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) established in 1998 or the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-660) passed?

we as a society have to realize that everything in the medical field is not for our benefit. doctors are not gods and do not know everything and are routinely influenced by a pretty blond sales rep that comes in and recommends that they use her drug (not all do, but a lot do.)

we as parents have to take control and know what is best for our kids.

that someone touhght your daughter's vaccine reaction was funny. I hope you don't mean Age of Autism. My impression was that the AoA posters were/are very concerned for your daughter.My daughter had a febrile seizure after receiving the MMR and varicela vaccines at the same time. I wrote about it at http://www.ageofautism.com/2007/11/mmr-chicken-pox.html, in case your are interested.I truly wish you and your family all the very very best.Sincerely,Twyla

Just so you know. Only the flu shot still has thimerosal. In all other childhood vaccines there has not been any thimerosal for 10 years. There is no other source of mercury in vaccines. How do you explain the increase in autism rates over the last 10 years (no thimerosal) than in the previous 10 years (with thimerosal)? it seems that if mercury was the cause then the rates should have decreased, not increased. And I again stress, that if mercury caused autism then everyone eating all that mercury containing high fructose corn syrup (most of the population) should be affected.

And your arguement about how the Amish have a different type of autism is not necessarily true. Noone knows for sure what causes autism. There are many ideas. One is genetics. There have been many cases of miltiple births in which all of the children are affected which suggests a genetic link. Amish people do not tend to have children with people outside of their population. Therefore, if the gene is not as prevalent in their population, it is likely that the rates of autism would be lower. This is in comparison to the general population who have children with whoever. So you're statement that the general population has a much higher rate because of vaccines may be an oversimplification and neglict to take into account that in actuality it just might be that the Amish have a lower rate because of genetics.

As far as Hannah Poling, she had a prior cellular disorder before she was even given the vaccines. Yes, there is a chance that the vaccines exacerbated it and she developed an autistic spectrum disorder. However, most of the people blaming autism on vaccines are simply frustrated parents who are looking for something to blame for why their child is sick. If you notice, there have been vast numbers of people who have not been awarded money for autism. Hannah's case is different and you shouldn't be using it as an umbrella representation. Every medicat treatment has risks. 99.9% of the reactions to vaccines will be skin pain or muscle pain which resolves on it's own. That compares to the significantly higher risk of permenant disability, sterilization (with mumps) and death in children who get these diseases because they were not vaccinated. The risk of a serious reaction is significantly smaller than the chance of dying in a car accident. Maybe everyone should keep their kids at home in a padded room. By not vaccinating healthy kids, young infants and kids with cancer or other immune problems are becoming sick and dying.

In approx. 1968, the school I attended did vaccinations. I was 8 years old at the time. I had started my period early (at 8) so they would not vaccinate me for Rubella. In 1991 I gave birth to my daughter and the doctor gave me a Rubella vac. After this, I became very ill, I was breastfeeding my daughter and she developed horrible lesions in her mouth. Over the years, I retired from teaching, as fatigue, mouth sores, neurological problems consumed my life. First, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis from highly elevated IGG from 4 spinal taps. Then, I was diagnosed with PKAN, now I am not diagnosed. HELP!

I had a difficult delivery when they gave me the Rubella vac. I believe the virus passed the blood/brain barrier. Too, my daughter has many similar symptoms. She is currently a student at the U of W , but struggles with neurological issues. I have done much research and it shows the affects of vaccinations when the subject is compromised. Is there data on this? I have found some, but not a lot. I believe that live Rubella vaccines have caused neurologigal damage for many. If you have data please send it to me at newvintagestudio@comcast.net PLEASE!

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